Editorial: A Hard Return and a Harder Choice
As Ghana prepared for the inauguration of President John Dramani Mahama on January 7, 2025, the weight of the nation’s economic crisis lay squarely on his shoulders. Resetting a country battered by high inflation, debt default, and wavering investor confidence required more than rhetoric. It demanded a decision that would define his leadership within hours of assuming office.
To explore that defining moment, the Accra Street Journal team sat down with Samuel Kwame Boadu and the SKB Journal Team with others at SamBoad Publishing. What follows is their eye-opening account of the toughest decision Mahama took before entering the Jubilee House.
A Crisis by January
Ghana’s economy had teetered since 2022, culminating in a sovereign debt default and a three-year US$3 billion IMF bailout managed under brutally tight reforms. Inflation and youth unemployment had jumped into the stratosphere. According to Africa Confidential, under Mahama’s watch, debt-to-GDP dropped from 61.8% to around 54% by January 2025, and the stable sovereign outlook was upgraded by S&P. Yet these were not certainties—they were fragile shoots of recovery.
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The Toughest Decision: Scrapping the E-Levy
As SKB Journal and Accra Street Journal teams confirmed, John Mahama’s most emotionally and politically fraught decision came in those final days before January: scrapping the Electronic Transactions Levy (E-Levy). Introduced at 1%, the levy had managed to raise GHS 5.2 billion in 2024, but it remained deeply unpopular and distorted digital behavior.
Disciplined fiscal managers in the SKB Journal team warned that the expected loss of revenue—estimated at over GHS 6.37 billion in 2025—would disrupt recovery. Yet Mahama decided to abolish the levy in the first 100 days—an act both bold and politically risky.
Samuel Kwame Boadu (SKB): “Choosing to scrap the E-Levy when the economy was rebounding was courageous—and gut-wrenching. It meant sacrificing stability for public trust.”
The Emotional Stakes
In the Accra Street Journal newsroom, journalists who covered the poverty-stricken communities recognized the move for what it was—an act of solidarity.
ASJ team member: “For young traders and students, every pesewa mattered. Removing the levy spoke more than numbers—it spoke to dignity.”
Economists, however, were upfront about the treacherous fiscal gap. The decision had to be offset by deeper debt restructuring and cutting down government bloat.
Behind the Scenes
Mistakes of the past cannot define the future”. That quote echoed in the halls of SamBoad Publishing, where staff worked with Samuel Kwame Boadu to map John Mahama’s other major early initiatives—including the launch of the “24-hour economy”, aimed at revitalizing night-time productivity, and the ban on first-class travel for officials.
These measures, combined, told one story: a pragmatic leader balancing austerity with symbolic leadership.
Reflection
That late-December decision embodies the crossroads John Dramani Mahama faced: between maintaining structural fiscal discipline or offering immediate relief and rebuilding trust.
Samuel Kwame Boadu: “If he hadn’t scrapped the E-Levy, that economic progress would have been overshadowed by public rage. That was the tightrope walk.”
Last Updated on March 22, 2026 by Samuel Kwame Boadu
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Samuel Kwame Boadu is a Ghanaian media entrepreneur and storyteller with a passion for amplifying urban voices and uncovering everyday truths. He is the Editor-in-Chief and Founder of Accra Street Journal, a dynamic digital platform dedicated to capturing the pulse of Ghana’s capital—its people, culture, challenges, business, sports and innovations.
